Science Fiction Convention History

Sci-fi cons are often considered the first fan conventions, historically centering on science fiction books and literature. They have expanded to all sorts of media, including television, movies, and beyond, and can very heavily on sub-genres focused on. Each convention is unique with a different style, but most feature comment elements: guests, typically either sci-fi authors or actors, and events, typically including panels, discussions, and autograph signings.

Events listed on UpcomingCons.com generally have to meet basic criteria to be considered. We list events that can be categorized as "conventions," defined as events with a reasonably large attendance (over 100), several different activities and types of activities, and an overall theme that fits within some of our categories. Some events may fall outside of these bounds if they are special or meaningful to a community we serve. Events are categorized in categories decided by our staff, which may not be exact if the convention would be better suited by a category that we don't have. We intend for categories to broadly cover the events that a person interested in a particular category might be looking for. For example, most people looking for an anime convention would not be interested in a horror convention, however sci-fi fans might (think Buffy, for example). Larger events may be placed in more categories than smaller events, because the range of activities at that event might include enough events to also qualify it for other categories. Conventions that attempt to be "everything" will be judged by our staff and may not be placed in all categories, especially if we feel that certain categories are more strongly served by the convention than others.